'It is the highest thing of all that we ask you,' added Bartolomeo. 'Man can do nothing greater. We ask you to sacrifice yourself, even your soul, may be, for the good of us all.'
Checco buried his face in his hands and groaned,--
Then, with a great sigh, he rose and said,--
'Be it as you will.... For the good of my country!'
Bartolomeo took him in his arms and kissed him on both cheeks. Then suddenly Checco tore himself away.
'But listen to this, all of you. I have consented, and now you must let me speak. I swear that in this thing I have no thought of myself. If I alone were concerned I would not move; I would wait for the assassin's knife calmly. I would even sacrifice my wife and children, and God knows how dearly I love them! I would not stir a finger to save myself. And I swear, by all that is most holy to me, that I am actuated by no base motive, no ambition, no thought of self, no petty revenge. I would willingly forgive Girolamo everything. Believe me, my friends, I am honest. I swear to you that I am only doing this for the welfare of the men I love, for the sake of you all, and--for Liberty.'
'We know it, Checco, we believe it. You are a great and a good man.'
A little later we began to discuss the ways and means. Everyone had his plan, and to it the others had the most conclusive objections. We all talked together, each one rather annoyed at the unwillingness of the others to listen to him, and thinking how contemptible their ideas were beside his own. Checco sat silent. After a while Checco spoke,--
'First of all,' he said, 'we must find out who is with us and who is against us.'
'Well,' interrupted Scipione, 'there are the two soldiers, Jacopo Ronchi and Lodovico Pansecchi; they are furious with the Count, and said to me a long while since that they would willingly kill him.'
'Our six selves and those two make eight.'
'Then there are Pietro Albanese, and Paglianino, and Marco Scorsacana.'
They were devoted adherents of the house of Orsi, and could be trusted to follow the head of the family to the bottomless pit.
Each mentioned a name till the total was brought to seventeen.
'That is enough,' said Checco. 'It is as foolish to have more than necessary as to have less. Now, once more, who are they?'